Friday, July 26, 2013

Kids in Kanata is a great resource for parents in the Ottawa area, as well as for parents in general. They include lots of great information on local events, as well as general parenting information and topics. I would advise anyone with little ones to check it out.

Monday, July 22, 2013

My almost 4 year old daughter is obsessed with sprinkles. I mean what little girl isn't? They make everything seem more fun! I saw a box of 'funfetti' cake mix at the store and realized I wanted to try my own!

I put mine in a large jar so I could stir it by shaking and get the sprinkles evenly distributed. But also this makes a nice gift in a jar.

What else you'll need

1 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

I would suggest blending the wet ingredients well before adding in the dry mix. I didn't do this, which caused me to overmix, which cause the sprinkles to bleed into the batter and make it look a bit grey.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until they begin to brown a bit (times will vary based on size. I almost always do cupcakes)

You can frost these, but I don't like to because it pretty much triples the amount of sugar going into my child and she is young enough to think unfrosted cake is good enough. She was just excited about the sprinkles. They don't call it FUN-fetti for nothing!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

It's been HOT lately. Too hot to use the stove top or oven for sure, too hot to eat warm meals. When the weather is like this all I want for dinner is grilled chicken sliced on top of a big arsed salad with crunchy cool cucumbers and Italian dressing.

I always pondered why the grilled chicken at restaurants tasted SO much better than the stuff I made at home. I realized it must be the marinade, so I fiddled around and finally hit perfection.

Combine mix with oil and vinegar and add raw chicken. Some people marinade in bags but I use a glass bowl because it's less wasteful. I let mine sit for about 2 hours in the fridge to really get the flavors in it.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I apologize for posting less often these days- it's a combination of summer being too much fun and having a 1 year old that climbs everything combined with an almost 4 year old that is constantly demanding me to PAY ATTENTION to everything she says and does. It's hard enough to cook meals these days let alone create them!

But sometimes in the evenings when I have some scrap of energy left I tinker around in my mix it up kitchen, especially with some 'after the kids are in bed' treats. I've been working on some gluten free baking mixes for my husband and came up with this simple one the other night.

When it comes to mass production for gluten free mixes I would suggest making several batches and storing them in bags/containers separately rather than making a big batch to scoop out of. Gluten free recipes are very susceptible to failure if the ingredients aren't properly measured and contents tend to settle when mixed together in a big batch.

What else you'll need

1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla

Blend butter, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl and then stir in mix and stir until smooth. In a greased baking pan bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes until edges are crispy and center is cooked through. Fully cool before serving (we never follow that and end up with crumbled brownies!)

These were delicious and disappeared fast. They are very inexpensive to make, especially compared to those overpriced gluten free mixes you can buy. These are certainly on the list of favorites!

I bought 10 pounds of pork side ribs from Costco and this mix was just enough to heavily coat them all to perfection.

Our BBQ is an $89 Canadian Tire POS so I knew I couldn't fit all 10 pounds on there for a lengthy rib cooking. Instead I pre-cooked them in a covered turkey pan in the oven (250 degrees for about 3-4 hours) and then finished them off on the grill for about 10 minutes on low.

The ribs were a huge hit at our party: meaty, tender and seasoned to perfection.